Majority asks Speaker to throw out minority motion to remove Ken Ofori-Atta

The majority in parliament wants the motion for censure against finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta thrown out for want of evidence. Speaking on the floor, the deputy majority leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, argued the minority MPs failed to attach evidence to the motion to back their claims. “Mr. Speaker, I beg to submit that the legal grounds or grounds for submission are not embedded in the motion. I am saying that Mr. Speaker, the motion is supposed to be advertised; that is what the constitution says. The constitution is not saying that you should accompany it with allegations as part of the motion; that is my contention. And if they beg to disagree, they should say so for the records to capture. And if there is any other provision that perhaps I have not read which allows you to state allegations, not facts, to support your motion, they should again draw my attention; we are here to learn. I’m not ashamed if I get it wrong, and I’m corrected. Mr. Speaker, I so submit.” Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu however, rubbished the claim arguing there’s enough evidence to impeach Ken Ofori-Atta. “We have made reference to constitutional provisions of Articles 178, 176, and 82. Mr. Speaker, to demonstrate with facts on this floor that the Minister is in breach of the law apart from the fact that he’s trashed the Ghanaian economy, we’ll do so. You cannot question the competence of the Speaker in admitting the motion. And we have not given you any facts; we are only giving you headlines of the matters to which we’ll lead with evidence. Mr. Speaker, our evidence will be in the category ‘beyond a shadow of a doubt’ – that the Ghanaian economy is a trashed economy, the cedi worst performing currency in the world. “You have done what is constitutionally right. I expect him to be assuring me that his side will support this, and by consensus, we save this country. We need to save this country, save its businesses. Businesses are collapsing, industry is collapsing, the Ghanaian citizens are reeling under unprecedented hardships. That must be your concern. We are invoking provisions of the constitution.”

The majority in parliament wants the motion for censure against finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta thrown out for want of evidence. Speaking on the floor, the deputy majority leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, argued the minority MPs failed to attach evidence to the motion to back their claims. “Mr. Speaker, I beg to submit that the legal grounds or grounds for submission are not embedded in the motion. I am saying that Mr. Speaker, the motion is supposed to be advertised; that is what the constitution says. The constitution is not saying that you should accompany it with allegations as part of the motion; that is my contention. And if they beg to disagree, they should say so for the records to capture. And if there is any other provision that perhaps I have not read which allows you to state allegations, not facts, to support your motion, they should again draw my attention; we are here to learn. I’m not ashamed if I get it wrong, and I’m corrected. Mr. Speaker, I so submit.” Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu however, rubbished the claim arguing there’s enough evidence to impeach Ken Ofori-Atta. “We have made reference to constitutional provisions of Articles 178, 176, and 82. Mr. Speaker, to demonstrate with facts on this floor that the Minister is in breach of the law apart from the fact that he’s trashed the Ghanaian economy, we’ll do so. You cannot question the competence of the Speaker in admitting the motion. And we have not given you any facts; we are only giving you headlines of the matters to which we’ll lead with evidence. Mr. Speaker, our evidence will be in the category ‘beyond a shadow of a doubt’ – that the Ghanaian economy is a trashed economy, the cedi worst performing currency in the world. “You have done what is constitutionally right. I expect him to be assuring me that his side will support this, and by consensus, we save this country. We need to save this country, save its businesses. Businesses are collapsing, industry is collapsing, the Ghanaian citizens are reeling under unprecedented hardships. That must be your concern. We are invoking provisions of the constitution.”